Debates of Dec. 8th, 2006

The Environment

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister told the Senate Committee on the Environment that the government had not reviewed environmental programs. Yet the minister subsequently admitted that the Privy Council Office had conducted such an evaluation.

Will the minister agree that she could have avoided making such contradictory statements if, before abolishing the former programs, she had considered the evaluation her own officials had conducted, which concluded that the existing programs were effective?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is mistaken. Yesterday, the minister told the committee that the former Liberal government had not analyzed all the climate change programs. This minister and her department have analyzed and evaluated the programs, which have been changed to make sure they are effective and produce real results, meaning a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. This was not done under the Liberals, because emissions went up. We will continue to take action.

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Minister of the Environment said that industries will not be the only ones to make efforts in the fight against climate change, and that consumers will also have to do their share. In its economic statement, the government said we must ensure that no industry has to bear excessive costs.

Is the minister quietly preparing the ground before announcing to consumers that they will have to pay the share that she will not have the courage to demand from oil companies?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the answer is an unqualified no. My hon. colleague has just replied to a series of questions from the Bloc Québécois. Let us be clear. The previous government put us in a situation where we were able to determine that nothing was working. Some programs were in place. We looked at them and realized that they also were not working. Therefore, we are going to take appropriate measures to make things work.

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, does the approach used by the Minister of the Environment not illustrate yet again that she intends to once again favour her friends, the big oil companies, when a fair approach based on the polluter pays principle would require industries to fully assume the costs of the pollution that they create?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, as everyone knows, we need the Bloc Québécois' cooperation. It might be a good thing for our friends opposite to go and see their big brothers in Quebec City, and follow their example by demanding a clean air act.

This is what my colleague, the Minister of the Environnement, proposed. As for me, I am waiting for the Bloc Québécois to endorse and support this project.

Homelessness

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this country has incredible wealth, and yet the number of homeless people continues to increase. There are some 30,000 homeless people in Toronto and tens of thousands in Vancouver, Victoria, Gatineau, Montreal and other cities across Canada. The number of homeless people in the country is equivalent to the population of Windsor.

Why does the Prime Minister not declare a state of emergency, as the NDP has suggested, before there are more deaths on the streets of one of the richest countries in the world?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are aware of the problem of the homeless, and that is why one of the first things this government did was to extend a program for the homeless until March of next year by giving it a cash injection of $135 million.

We have even increased the grants to programs for the homeless by $37 million because our government is concerned about the challenges facing the homeless.

[Jack Layton, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the truth is that the government has closed its eyes to the growing situation of homelessness in this country. The groups that are out there trying to help people have been told that they will have not a penny after March.

The result is that the boards of directors are having to close down their operations now, when thousands of people are on the streets. This is absolutely callous. The government is wrapping it up in this Christmas wrapping that somehow it is going to come up with a new plan in the future. Meanwhile, people are dying on the streets of this city.

We call for the declaration of a state of emergency so that funds can flow immediately to the communities. It is a power that the government has and it should use it.

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, obviously all Canadians are concerned about the challenges faced by people without adequate housing. Perhaps we could call for a state of rhetorical restraint on the part of that leader, who once accused the former prime minister of personally being responsible for killing people who died on the streets as a result of unfortunate circumstances.

We are acting, which is why we renewed $135 million in homeless programming through to the end of this fiscal year and increased it by $37 million. We are looking at yet further improvements to programming for the homeless.

RCMP Commissioner

[Anthony Rota, Liberal, Nipissing—Timiskaming, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Canadian Press reported that three ministers, including the Minister of Public Safety, had asked the Prime Minister to fire the RCMP commissioner earlier this fall.

Furthermore, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Foreign Affairs refuse to comment on the matter.

Was the Prime Minister pressured by his ministers to fire Mr. Zaccardelli, yes or no?

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, that story is a complete and utter fabrication.

[Anthony Rota, Liberal, Nipissing—Timiskaming, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are being asked to swallow a buffet of nonsense on this issue. Not only that, even after the commissioner discussed his desire to correct the public record on such a sensitive matter, the minister expects Canadians to believe he did not ask what needed to be corrected and why.

How on earth could the commissioner hold the confidence of this government through all this, if the minister had done his job?

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, the entire government has done its job related to the Arar mess that was created by and presided over by the federal Liberals. They did nothing.

We have accepted all 23 recommendations of the O'Connor report. We have also given instructions to deal with the question of compensation for Mr. Arar, which according to Justice O'Connor should also include an apology. The 23 recommendations have led to enhanced capabilities between the RCMP and CSIS and other agencies. Our situation in terms of safety and security for our citizens is better now than it was under the Liberals.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if there is one thing this Prime Minister is good at, it is the excessive control he has over communications. Whether it be speeches, announcements or travel allowances, everything is controlled by the Prime Minister's Office.

Now he would have us believe that he learned that the RCMP commissioner was going to change his testimony just this week, when his Minister of Public Safety knew about this more than a month ago. Who is telling the truth?

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, it is becoming increasingly obvious to Canadians that the reason members opposite continue to go on senseless fishing expeditions on items that are absolutely obvious is to try to hide the fact that when they had this file, they had a situation where Mr. Arar was suffering in a Syrian prison.

Members opposite had a situation where one of their ministers was even raising the question of whether or not Mr. Arar was tortured. They had a situation where their solicitor general would not write a letter to the Syrians to say that the man should be out of jail. It was horrifying how they mishandled this file. That is why they are trying to hide that fact.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the commissioner's original testimony did not hold water and each witness who came to the committee subsequently poked more holes in it. The commissioner and the committee knew there were problems, but what Canadians are concerned about is why the Prime Minister and the Minister of Public Safety did not.

Does the Prime Minister, a practising information czar, really expect Canadians to believe he knew nothing of this matter until Monday of this week? How is it that this one particular file slipped through his iron grip, and why is he now desperately distancing himself from it?

[Stockwell Day, Conservative, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I assume the member opposite knows that the commissioner has submitted his resignation and that will be effective as of the 15th. What he told all of us on Monday was that he wanted to correct some contradictions. He realized there was some risk in him doing so with regard to some errors he had made. I do respect the fact that he did the honourable thing after clearing up the contradictions, which everybody found out about on Monday.

We still do not know why one of the former Liberal government's ministers, according to Justice O'Connor, raised doubts in the minds of Canadians that Mr. Arar was even tortured, and why its former solicitor general would not write a letter to the Syrians to get him out of jail. We do not know that.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[André Bellavance, Bloc, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, at the 82nd UPA convention yesterday, like me, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food heard farmers' requests to adapt programs to the needs of Quebec farmers, especially in the grain, pork and dairy sectors.

In this context, does the minister intend to change the Canadian agricultural income stabilization program, or CAIS, so that it can truly meet the needs of farmers, as he has so often promised?

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to assure this House that this new government will always listen to farmers and that Quebec will always have its fair share.

This goes for the potato farmers of Saint-Amable, as well as the pork producers, beef farmers, dairy farmers and so on.

In fact, Quebec will receive over $400 million.

[André Bellavance, Bloc, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member and his colleagues should have read their press review this morning.

In the wake of recognizing Quebeckers as a nation, UPA president Laurent Pellerin is calling on the minister to be consistent, open and flexible, and to recognize the distinct nature of Quebec agriculture.

Does the minister not agree, in order to prove that the recognition of Quebeckers as a nation was not just meaningless words, this recognition must be acted on, with specific programs that reflect the distinct nature of Quebec agriculture?

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my hon. colleague that, in 16 years of existence, his party has done absolutely nothing to help Canadian farmers.

This new government listens to our farmers and is committed to helping farmers across Canada, including those in Quebec.

Aeronautics Industry

[Robert Vincent, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Quebec government released its research and innovation strategy, more specifically as it regards the aeronautics industry. However, according to Bell Helicopter's director of development, Michel Legault, this is not enough to compete against foreign competitors, and the federal government must announce its plan at the earliest opportunity.

The Minister of Industry made a commitment to review the technology partnerships Canada program. Considering that the aeronautics industry is anxious, what is he waiting for to make his plans public?

[John Baird, Conservative, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, this is obviously an issue we are very concerned about and I know the member opposite shares our concern. What we are trying to do is build an economy in Canada with low taxation and with low regulation that will help encourage economic development and create more jobs.

[Robert Vincent, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Mr. Speaker, delaying the announcement of the federal plan is creating insecurity among decision makers, and this is bad for the future of the aeronautics industry. “We are stamping our feet”, says Mr. Legault.

Will the minister hear this call from the aeronautics industry, and will he put an end to this uncertainty by implementing the plan developed and proposed by the Bloc Québécois?